ambushing

verb

present participle of ambush
as in attacking
to lie in wait for and attack by surprise the king's enemies planned to ambush the royal coach on the way to Paris and capture the king

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ambushing The man accused of ambushing two Philadelphia police officers, killing one and wounding another, now faces federal charges. — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026 Two men are facing kidnapping and robbery charges after allegedly ambushing a buyer during a Facebook Marketplace transaction in Doral. — Manuel Bojorquez, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026 Videos from that day showed militants gunning down fleeing revelers, shooting the wounded at point-blank range and ambushing those seeking refuge in bomb shelters. — Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 Hansen, who left NBC in 2013 but remains a leader in the pervert-ambushing space, has spoken about having considered a sting operation against Jeffrey Epstein in 2015. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2026 However, officials have yet to determine exactly what type of animal is ambushing the unsuspecting humans. — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026 After ambushing Nobel hopeful Kersten onboard, Wohmann makes multiple attempts to interview him. — Alissa Simon, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026 Lit up by minor-leaguers ambushing first-pitch fastballs? — Levi Weaver, New York Times, 8 June 2026 Arizona’s offense set the tone for the night by absolutely ambushing Ray, needing just six pitches to plate four runs. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 19 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ambushing
  1. attacking
  2. assaulting
  3. capturing
Verb
  • In July, Brown pleaded guilty to a count of affray at London’s Southwark Crown Court for attacking a music producer with a tequila bottle on the head.
    — Leo Barraclough, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
  • The approval of Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer drug Rasonque earlier this year showed that a medicine capable of attacking mutations in a group of genes called RAS could prolong survival for patients with the particularly aggressive cancer.
    — Adam Feuerstein, STAT, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacking
Verb
  • Federal prosecutors charged him with assaulting the agent, then dropped the case in February.
    — Ashley Grams, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Stokes’ wife, former Hot 97 radio personality and employee TT Torrez, has also spoken out against the incident, issuing a statement through a representative accusing Funk Flex of physically assaulting her during the altercation with her husband.
    — Preezy Brown, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of assaulting
Verb
  • Witty, bitter, flamboyant, and emotionally grounded, the dialogue swings, delightfully, between intimate exchanges and grandiloquent soliloquies, capturing the vulnerability of idealists in the face of evil.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026
  • By capturing predictable fees on a massive, permanent baseline of cheap American energy, these three midstream powerhouses represent a high-quality structural play for investors.
    — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of capturing

Browse Nearby Words

ambushes
ambushing
ambushment
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ambushing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ambushing. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All